SurvivorZ: Grave Harbor

70

KIM

Survival instincts kept Corporal Kim Martinez' finger on the trigger, but the scene of utter pandemonium prevented her from squeezing it. She couldn't pin down a single target through the darkness, smoke, and uproar overwhelming her senses. It was as if the night itself had come alive and was attacking them from all sides.

The last time she encountered those tiny, rattling spider monstrosities, they were little more than indistinct shapes caught in the blast from Sergeant Lowe's grenade. Now she saw far more of them than she preferred.

"Light them up!" Colonel Hayes shouted, directing his forces to attack a wave of bugs scrambling across the courtyard after them.

A three-man flamethrower team lit up the darkness with a flash of fiery gases. Their attack consumed only a small handful of the speeding insects. The rest of them either retreated to the shadows or hopped to safety with their spindly legs.

Kim had to hand it to them. The little bastards could really move, and lacking eyesight did absolutely nothing to deter them. If anything, it gave them an advantage. Unlike their human opponents, they weren't reliant on flashlights to spot their targets.

The creatures were navigating using some sense beyond sound and heat detection. They somehow recognized the difference between living prey and the growing number of undead filling the yard. They were also smart enough to avoid fire at any cost. Kim almost wished Doctor Mueller were here to see her abominations in action. She'd have been spellbound, up until the moment they stabbed the shit out of her.

Kim barely registered the gunfire around her as several soldiers took out a few zombies in uniform roaming their way. These were men and women with whom she had served. Watching them fall in the form of these grotesque revenants nearly broke her heart.

Looking closer, she soon discovered that there was one face missing from the chaos. Sergeant Lowe was nowhere in sight.

She gazed up at the flames engulfing most of the north face of the Biological Laboratory building. Between the ammo dump explosion and the original fire in the lab, she hoped the Sarge was okay. The last time Kim saw her, she was running for the stairs to check on her boyfriend. If she was still up there when that explosion cracked open the structure, they might never find her in the rubble.

The slam of a nearby door startled her from her thoughts. Several people emerged from Divinity Hall. They rushed down the steps into the yard, ushering a train of children and a dog towards the colonel and his squad.

In the dim light of the burning flames, Kim spotted a spider skittering across the ground after them. Most of the group safely raced past their position with their young charges without noticing the danger. Only one among them fell behind, a young man whose leashed pet stopped to react to the approaching threat. The dog bayed furiously at the menacing shape gliding towards them in the shadows.

"Rusty, come," its owner yelled, tugging on the obstinate canine's leash.

"On your six!" Kim screamed, stepping forward with her carbine raised.

She opened fire at the bug, catching it only in glimpses as it weaved in and out of the shadows. Her bullets patted the ground around it in puffs of dust. The creature interpreted the potshots as something to attack and hopped after them, making it even more difficult to hit. Despite this distraction, the gunshots hitting all around it didn't veer it from its original target.

The clamor of gunfire scared both the dog and its owner into motion. They ran after the others, who by now were already herding the children inside the main building.

"Charlie," one of the women called out. "Come on."

Kim didn't spare them a second glance. By the time Charlie and Rusty ran past her, all she could think about was trying to kill that damn insect before it hurt anyone. Her bullet spray was hitting everything except that tiny, multi-legged fucker.